About Me

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I created this blog as a way to "Keep up with the Joneses"! We feel so blessed to get to spend everyday together and my hope is that this blog is a way for us to look back and remember our journey together! I know this will evolve and I cannot wait to see what it turns in to. I have recently added my side business on to the blog. I taking a leap of faith with my photography and cannot wait to see what happens. I hope you enjoy!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Weekend Recap


Back together and it feels so good ;) 

Well I was not expecting to have much of a weekend because I thought I would spend most of the day Saturday in the car. That changed due to the fact that being apart from Jeffrey any longer was not making me very happy. My mom being the great lady that she is said I can drive until dark if you can drive through the night to get us the rest of the way home. So yes, my mom and I made the 12 hour drive in ONE day! I am literally so proud of us, well mostly me because I HATE driving. In fact I drove longer in one day of this trip home than the entire time I have ever driven Jeffrey around (well that is according to him). Anyways we got home around 1:15 and sweet Jeffrey was waiting at my moms to drive me home. It was a long day, but having the whole weekend sure was nice.



Saturday we woke up and worked out. Then we spent the day just regrouping and spending time with each other. (I do not know if I have made it clear 8 days without Jeffrey is TOOOOOOO long). We grocery shopped, cleaned, did laundry and squeezed in lunch at EATZIS (our fav). Then we met up with 3 awesome couples (the Jeffrey's, the Horvath's and the Tews) We had our first monthly supper club at Grimaldis in Grapevine and frozen yogurt at Cassies. It was such a fun evening with some of our very best friends. We are so thankful for each of them.



Sunday I woke up early to go volunteer at the memory care unit of a nursing home. It is such a rewarding place to volunteer and makes you realize how sweet life is. It is a great place and I feel like I might have a new passion towards this population. Then I picked Jeffrey up and we headed to church. We haven't been to church in like 3 weeks because of travel and weddings. It was so nice to be back with our church family and worship together. We are excited for all that God is doing at Compass and we cannot wait to serve there this year. We then decided to cook lunch together.. we chose a recipe from my sweet sister in laws blog (Quinoa Grapefruit Avocado Salad) if you have not checked it out you should it is so precious you can get to it from HERE. We had a yummy lunch and spent the rest of the day getting organized/ready for the week ahead. I HONESTLY cannot believe summer is over for me and its almost AUGUST! Time sure does fly when you are having fun!




Thankful for summer,

MJ

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Florida 2012

Well vacation mode is over as I start back to work tomorrow.. sort of.. I have a week long training YUCK! Anyways I am thankful I got to go on a trip with my family. It is such a relaxing week, we did a little shopping, fishing, moped riding, hanging out on the pier, visiting our favorite place Juanas, But mostly (when I say mostly I mean pretty much all day everyday) we spent the days in our swimsuits down at the beach. We rented a house with my big sister and her family and my aunts and cousins stayed down the road..it was an incredible week. I was sad to leave, but OHHHH so HAPPY to be back home with Jeffrey. Here are a few of my fav pics from the week! Enjoy!














Thankful for Florida,

MJ

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for...



1. My family.. even though we may be a bit crazy at times I love them all very much.

2. Vacation at the beach. It really is one of my favorite places on earth.

3. A week off from summer school

4. A sweet husband that missed vacation to stay home and work hard.

5. A sweet husband to go home to on SATURDAY.. I CANNOT wait 9 days without Jeffrey is 9 days to long!

Thankful for this week off,

MJ

Friday, July 20, 2012

Road Trip Day 1

Today my mom and I started our road trip to Florida. It is a drive I have been making almost every year since I was two years old. It is something my family has always done. I have some of the best memories from  our trips to Florida. I even have some great memories of the car trips, particularly staying up while everyone else slept and talking to my dad.  It is not the same without my sweet Dad or Annie (who has class..yuck) but it still is one of my favorite places on earth and I am so thankful God created such an incredible place. All that aside I am 12 hours into our 7 day trip and I am reallllly  missing Jeffrey..this is the longest we have been apart since we got married. I am thankful to spend quality time with my mom and family, I just want the other part of my family (Jeffrey) to be there too! Not to mention he has not gotten to experience a "Marshall" family vacation and since it is one we have been doing FOREVER I cannot wait to share it with him next summer (he promised he would take off work). Anyways here is to a GREAT week at the BEACH!

Here's road trip day 1 via instagram....

From Left to Right and Top to bottom.. we stopped at the Marshall pottery.. store so cool, spray cheese is a childhood fav, my mom and I in the car, view from our dinner in Louisiana

We arrived in LA around 3:30 we went to explore downtown, I found the cutest fur vest for winter *BONUS*, then we had an early dinner and came back to the hotel to hang out..while we were here.. I got pink hair and blinged out my ring finger.. already such a fun day! 




Excited for time with my mom, 

MJ 


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thankful Thursday

Create in me a pure heart, O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 This week I am thankful for.... 1.Leaving for a week in Florida with my family 2. Finishing all my assignments for one of my summer classes 3. Only two of each class left after tonight 4. My sweet husband and his surprises 5. God's Grace Thankful, MJ

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Lilly's Wedding

We had three weddings in 2 weeks! Crazy I know! We are so excited that our friends are getting to experience the amazing gift of marriage. This past weekend we celebrated Lilly & Jon's wedding. I got to know Lilly through work at DZ, she is an incredible girl and her wedding was incredible. She was a beautiful bride and every last detail was perfect. Congratulations Lilly & Jon! We had so much fun celebrating with you! I'll let my instagram photos do the talking!







Thankful for love, 

MJ 

BOSTON 2012

We have been talking about going to Boston for the 4th of July for at least a year. The day our good friends Daniel & Kim got engaged we knew we would be making the trip to celebrate their special day and we figured why not make a vacation out of it. After all how often do you get the chance to celebrate the 4th of July in BOSTON!! To say we were excited was an understatement. It was the first time we would be traveling as married couples out of the state with our BEST friends James & Krista. We spent an entire Saturday evening planning our itinerary for an awesome 4 days in BOSTON. We knew we would be doing lots of walking, but I was shocked to find out we walked 22 miles while we were there, hopefully that makes up for all the food we indulged in!!!  The city is incredible and we had so much fun exploring all of the history, tasting new beers, and enjoying each others company. I am so thankful that God has given us the means to explore the world with each other and am so thankful for what he has blessed us with. Anyways we all know I like to take a lot of pictures (I took 600 over the week.. don't worry they will not all be on the blog, just a few). If you want to see more you can check out my facebook page. So I will let my pictures do most of the talking.. here we go!

Tuesday: We woke up bright and early to make it time for our 7:00am flight. As soon as we got checked in the hotel we hopped on the subway (well this took a little longer than one would think because lets face it, we are not used to using public transportation) luckily we had maps and some great navigators (thanks James & Jeffrey). We arrived in Cambridge and had pizza and walked around Harvard. We met a professor and he joined us at a pub for a drink. We then headed back into the town to stroll the Northend. First stop was Mikes Pastry shop for canolis. We had an amazing Italian dinner with a view of the street from our table. It was a beautiful night and we had fun walking around the city! 








Wednesday: We woke up bright and early ready to celebrate the 4th of July and walk the freedom trail. We spent the whole day doing the freedom trail. We made all the stops, had beer at the oldest PUB in the united states, took a ton of pictures and had a blast. We then went back to the hotel to get freshened up and enjoyed a view of the cities fireworks harbor/fireside. We had a delicious seafood dinner (the best clam choweder I have ever had in fact) and just a great night celebrating the 4th.














Thursday: We headed out early to get to Fenway park. We were in the first tour group, it was so cool to hear about and see all the history in that stadium. We then headed to EASTERN STANDARD for brunch.. if you are ever in Boston you should definitely check this place out. We hopped on the subway and headed to see Sam Adams brewery (sadly the tours were to booked), but we at least got to see it. We then decided to take a water taxi across the harbor to get back to our hotel. The rest of the time spent in Boston was celebrating Daniel and Kim.










Congratulations to an AMAZING couple we love you both and wish you all the happiness in the world! 




Thankful for traveling,

MJ